McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LIV · Part 6: Lessons XLIX-LX: Sieges, patriots and pilgrims

60. On Happiness of Temper (Oliver Goldsmith)

Goal: Your student follows an essay with examples and explains its claim that happiness comes from within.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

An author note on Goldsmith, then his essay arguing that pleasure is in us, not in things, with examples including a chained slave who was the merriest man in his garrison.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: disposition, constitution, destitute, procession.

  2. About the author

    The book says Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), an Irishman, son of a poor curate, studied at Dublin, Edinburgh and Leyden, wandered the Continent in poverty, and settled in London in 1756, where Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds were his friends. His works include The Traveler, The Deserted Village, She Stoops to Conquer and The Vicar of Wakefield. Gambling and extravagance left him deep in debt.

  3. Read it aloud

    Read the opening together:

    Writers of every age have endeavored to show that pleasure is in us, and not in the objects offered for our amusement.

    Your student reads the rest. After the story of the slave:

    What a practical philosopher was here!

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat is Goldsmith's main claim in the first sentence?

    SayTell the story of the slave. Why does Goldsmith call him a "practical philosopher"?

    SayRead: "A happy constitution supplied philosophy, and though seemingly destitute of wisdom he was really wise." What does it mean?

    SayCan a cheerful temper be learned, or are people born with it?

  5. Tell it back

    Your student states the essay's claim and retells one of its examples.

  6. Copywork and memory

    Copy and learn:

    Writers of every age have endeavored to show that pleasure is in us, and not in the objects offered for our amusement.

  7. Write (optional)

    Write about someone you know who stays cheerful in hard times.

@teddyrookbook GitHub